Tool support for cutting machines



Dec. 23,1941.

cs. F. JOHNSON TOOL SUPPORT FOR CUTTING MACHINES Original Filed May 12,1939 1 1 {b 7 ig: I

5 3 47 43 a 48 47 45 a {a 1 I I h l W I 53 I i 58 3 I I E .33 51- 47;; 05.9 349 I l Patented Dec. 23, 1941 UNITED STATES met-r OFFICE TOOLsorrow: roe CUTTING MAommis Glen F. Johnson, Detroit, Mich., assignor toBower Roller Bearing Company, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of MichiganOriginal application May 12, 1939, Serial No. 273,308. Divided and thisapplication September 20, 1939, Serial No. 295,784

1 Claim.

1 is minimized.

Another object is to improve the tool supporting structure of a honingmachine so that possibility of self-displacement of certain of themovable parts comprising saidstructure from the most efificientlyoperable positions therefor is eliminated.

Another. object is to improve the tool supporting structure of a honingmachine so that friction between the relatively movable parts comprisingsaid structure is minimized and possibility of self-displacement ofcertain of said parts from the most efiiciently operable positionstherefor is eliminated.

Another object is to provide a honing machine with a new and improvedtool supporting struc-.

ture which minimizes the friction set up by reciprocation of the toolsupported thereby and which prevents certain of the movable partscomprising said structure from being displaced from their positions ofgreatest operating efficiency, which displacement. would otherwise occurat relatively high speeds of said reciprocation.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become readilyapparent from a refomance to the following specification taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure l is a vertical section taken longitudinally through the honingmachine, shown partly in elevation and partly broken away, and showingthe tool in honing position with respect to the work piece;

Figs. 2 and 4 are sections taken along the lines 2-2 and 4-4,respectively, in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a section taken along the lines 3-3 'in Fig. 2.

, Since the present invention relates solely to the structure whichdirectly supports the tool, disclosure of only those elements andarrange ments thereof comprising said structure is set forth in detailherein, it being understood that reference can and will be made to theaforementioned copending application for obtaining a detailed and.complete'showing and explanation of the honing machine and itsoperation. .How- 155 into honing position on said raceway, and moveever,for the purpose of showing the contemplated use of the tool supportingstructure and of the tool supported thereby, Fig. 1 is presented andshows such use to be the honing by said tool of the raceway of anannular bearing member which is supported by a centerless type of worksupporting structure.

So, with the presumption that portions of the following description willbe considered in conjunction with the aforementioned co-pendingapplication, it will be noted in Fig. 1 that the honing machinecomprises, in general, a main base H] which supports, in operableinter-relationship, a tool supporting structure II and a work supportingstructure l2. A table, generally indicated at l4, interconnects the baseHi and tool supporting structure H, by means of hollow guide bosses I5integral with said base and by means of guide rods 16 carried by saidtable and cooperable with said bosses, and is purely reciprocablerelatively to said base between predetermined limit positions therefor.Though the table 14 supports the tool supporting structure H forreciprocation of the latter by and with the former, there is provided apivotal connection therebetween which consists of a rod 18 and a bearingl9 therefor, so that said structure may be pivoted about the axis ofsaid rod toward and away from said table, which is, as has been said,purely reciprocable. A spring 29, cooperating with the tool supportingstructure H, is employed for urging said structure toward its lowerposition with respect to the table It in opposition to the meansemployed for raising said structure.

The unitary, reciprocal travel of the table l4 and tool supportingstructure II is horizontal and in parallelism with the raceway surface22 of an annular bearing member or work piece 23 externally supportedfor rotation about its axis by means of the work supporting structureI2. This reciprocation of the unit I l-H is between two points one ofwhich disposes the tool, which is indicated at 24 and carried by thestructure I I of said unit, inwardlyof the inner edge of the raceway 22and the other of which disposes said tool outwardly of the outer edge ofsaid raceway. Movement in this manner of the tool 24 from the abovementioned outer position therefor to the above mentioned inner positiontherefor occurs while the structure H is in its raised position withrespect to the table M for the purpose of radially aligning said toolwith the raceway=22 for subsequent lowering of said tool ment of saidtool from said inner position to said outer position is not commenceduntil said tool has been raised from said honing position into saidinner position. The mechanism by which the component parts l4 and H ofthe unit l4-I| are unitarily reciprocated, relatively pivoted andaccurately timed in these movements forms no part of the presentinvention and is, therefore, neither shown nor will be further discussedherein, the aforementioned copending application being thought theproper source of such information, if desired. 7 7 i The work supportingstructure I2, in short, is of the centerless type,-that is, itexternally supports and rotatably drives the work piece 23 about itsaxis of rotation so that the raceway 22 will rotate past the lowered,reciprocating tool 24 in honing engagement therewith for being honedthereby. For this purpose, structure l2 comprises a pair of axiallyspaced, rotating,

supportingrollers 26 which support and rotatably drive the work piece23irom beneath, a rotatable backing member 21 which supports said workpiece from behind and limits axial movement thereof, and a pressureroller 28 which supports said work piece from above and establishes adriving pressure between the latter and said rollers 26. Though notshown herein, mechanism is provided for raising the pressure roller 28to permit the insertion of a new work piece .23 into position for honingthereof, for removing the honed work piece 23 from honing position, andfor timing these operations with respect to each other and with those ofthe components l4 and H of the unit |4||.

The tool supporting structure U comprises a casing 38 which is elongatedin the direction of reciprocation of the unit |4| and has a rear section3| which is operatively connected to the rod I8 and to the table I4 soas to cause said casing to reciprocate with said table and to swingupwardly and downwardly relatively thereto. Casing section 3! isrearwardly recessed, as at 32, along the front thereof so as to providea closed, horizontal, longitudinally extending chamber 33 upon theconnection to said section of a front casing section 34 and a pair ofend casing sections 35 and 36. Carried within the chamber 33 is anelongated tool carrier 38 one end of which extends outwardly from saidchamber through an opening 39 provided therefor in the end casingsection 39, this extending carrier end removably carrying in any wellknown manner the tool 24 and being preferably support at said opening inpacking means 48. Fixedly attached to the inner side of the upperchamber-forming portion of the casing section 3| is an elongated plate4|, and to the inner side of the lower chamber-forming portion of saidsection is fixedly attached another and similar elongated plate 42, saidplate 4| residing above and being spaced from the carrier 38, and saidplate 42 residing below and also beiug spaced from said carrier. Plates4| and 42 extend the entire length of the chamber 33 and each,preferably, for purposes to be discussed presently, is centrally formedtherealong with a recess or raceway 43 which faces the carrier 38.However, whether or not the plates 4| and 42 are provided with theserecesses 43, each is at least provided with one or more sockets oropenings 44 which are preferably arranged in vertical alignment witheach other.

The upper and lower sides of the tool carrier 38, are preferably formedcentrally therealong with recesses or raceways 45 which face and residein vertical alignment with the recesses or raceways 43 in the plates 4|and 42, and said tool carrier, furthermore, is formed in each of saidraceways 45 with one or more sockets 46 which are vertically alignablewith the openings 44 in said plates when said tool carrier is at themiddle of its stroke in either'direction of its movement. The raceway 43and the raceway 45 of each adjacent pair thereof receive therebetween aplurality of longitudinally spaced bearing members 4'! of the ball type,and each set of said bearing members is held in assembly by means of anelongated cage 48 of the plate type, one of these cage-bearing units48--4'l being arranged in running fit with and between the carrier 38and the plate 4| and the other of said units being similarly arrangedbetween and with respect to said carrier and the plate 42. Each of thecages 48 has at least one opening 49 formed therethrough between onepair of the bearings 41 carried thereby, and these'openings are sospaced from the ends of said cages as to be vertically alignable withthe openings 44 in the plates 4| and 42 and the sockets 45 in thecarrier 38 when said cages and said carrier are at the middle of theirstrokes.

In view of the fact that it is intended to reciprocate the toolcarrier-tool unit 3824 at a rather high rate of speed, which isnecessary for proper honing, and in order to control the movement of thecage-bearing units 48-41 during such reciprocation, an elongated drivinglink 50 is disposed in the three openings 44, 49 and 45 comprising eachcombination thereof, thus effectuating thereby a connection between saidtool carrier-tool unit, said two cage-bearing units and the two plates4| and 42. It will be noted that the outer end of each of the links 50resides in one of the openings 44 in one of the two plates 4| and 42,thus providing a non-rectilinearly movable, pivotal connection thereat,that the inner end of each of said links resides in one of the sockets46 in the carrier 38, thus providing a rectilinearly movable, pivotalconnection thereat, and that the center portion of each of said linksresides in one of the openings 49 in one of the two cages 48, thusproviding a pivotal connection thereat which is rectilinearly movable athalf the speed and with half the amplitude as compared with saidconnection at said opening 46. In other words, the cage-bearing units48-4'| are positively controlled in their movements with respect to themovement of the tool carrier 38 by means of the links 50, so that thereis no possibility of said units being displaced from the positions wherethey are intended to and do function with the greatest possibleefficiency, positions whereat said units are at all times subjected tothe load there existent. Because of the swinging motion of each of thelinks 59 about its outer end, the length of each thereof should beslightly less than the vertical distance between the opposite ends ofthe respective channel formed by the respective trio of openings 44, 49and 46.

The front section 34 of the casing 30 is integrally formed with a hubportion 52 which is internally bored to receive an inwardly extendingshaft 53, said shaft carrying a driving pulley 54 on its outer end andbeing journalled in bearings 55 carried by said front section and therear section 3| of said casing. The tool carrier 38 is formed with anelongated opening 58 passing transversely therethrough for receiving theshaft 53, and the length of said opening is equal substantially to thediameter of said shaft plus the length of travel of said carrier so thatsaid shaft does not interfere with said travel when the machine is inoperation. Also, the tool carrier 38 is formed, radially outwardly ofthe opening 58, with a pair of diametrically oppositely spaced shoulderportions 59 between which is accommodated an anti-friction bearing unit60 and in which unit is accommodated an eccentric portion 6| integrallyformed on the shaft 53 and by means of which said carrier isreciprocated.

Means, such as a belt 64 interconnecting the pulley 54 and a motor 55,is employed for rotating the shaft 53 to reciprocate the toolcarriertool unit 38-24 Although the invention has been described withsome detail, it is not intended that such description is to bedefinitive of the limits of the inventive idea. The right is reserved tomake such changes in the details of construction and arrangement ofparts as will fall within the purview of the attached claim.

What I claim is:

In a machine of the character described, a tool carrier support having aspace therewithin defined on one side by a wall, a tool carrier arrangedin said space and operable for reciprocation relatively to said wall, aplate arranged between and in sliding contact with said wall and saidcarrier and being formed therethrough with a plurality of aperturesspaced from each other in the direction of said reciprocation, groovesformed in said wall and in said carrier in opposed relation to eachother and opposite said apertures and extending in the direction of saidreciprocation, bearing members freely carried in said apertures andhaving diameters sufficient to permit occupation of said grooves by saidmembers, and an elongated guiding member received at one of its ends ina pocket provided therefor in said carrier, at the other of its ends ina pocket provided therefor in said Wall, and at a point intermediatesaid ends freely within an aperture provided therefor in said plate inspaced relation to each of said other apertures for preventingdisplacement of said carrier and said plate in their reciprocationsrelatively to said wall at said second-named end.

GLEN F. JOI-DTSON.

